This week The Herald has been exploring the past, present and future of Scotland’s universities as part of our latest impact series.

While investigating the university sector, and trawling through a huge amount of data, we learned a great deal about institutions’ financial positions, the difference balance of students from one university to the next, and the challenges facing higher education – both here and abroad – in the coming years.

But we were also reminded that not all universities are the same. Different institutions have different origins and different missions, all of which are vital to the jobs they do. In Scotland, there are four that specifically stand out.

 

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)

When it comes to Scotland’s Rural College, the clue really is in the name. It was established after a merger between the Scottish Agricultural College and three other colleges (Barony, Elmood and Oatridge) and offers both part-time and full-time study from NC level (typically used by colleges) right up to PhD.

At present its website lists 55 available courses, from Advanced Forestry to Zoonoses and Epidemiology of Animal Infectious Diseases via others such as Ecological Surveying, Greenkeeping, International Animal Welfare Ethics and Law, and many more.

SRUC is also a research institute, with a number of difficult specific facilities and specialisms including agri-food systems, genetics and genomics, and animal behaviour and welfare.

The institution also includes SAC Consulting, which provides “independent, research-driven, industry leading expertise, advice and solutions for agricultural, food and land-based businesses.”

Find out more about Scotland's Rural College here.

 

Glasgow School of Art (GSA)

Despite being famous for all the wrong reasons in recent years – two major fires gutted the historic ‘Mack’ building, and questions remain over a possible restoration plans – the Glasgow School of Art is a world-renowned institution that was founded in 1845.  attracts students from across the globe.

Founded in 1845, GSA offers 17 undergraduate degree courses – validated by the University of Glasgow – across four specialist schools: the Mackintosh School of Architecture, the School of Design, the School of Fine Art, and the School of Innovation and Technology. Alongside the sort of traditional courses that one might expect – such as Painting & Printmaking or Fine Art Photography – students can also pursue courses in areas such as 3D Modelling and Games and Virtual Reality.

Read more:

What goes on at Scotland's Rural College?

How can universities meet the global challenges of the future?

Find articles – Scottish universities: funding, fees and the future

The GSA also offers some preparatory courses, such as English for Creative Disciplines, which is “tailored to the needs of international students who have been offered a place on an undergraduate or postgraduate course at GSA on the condition that they improve their English.”

Despite having Glasgow in the name, the GSofA also has a campus near Forres in Moray.

Find out more about the Glasgow School of Art here.

 

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS)

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (RCS) is just a couple of years younger than the GSA, having started life in 1847. Originally the Glasgow Athenaeum (which was formally opened by Charles Dickens) it later became the Scottish National Academy of Music. A drama school was added in the 1950s, and in the 1960s the institution became known as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) – a title that remained until 2011.

The RCS is now regarded as one of the top ten performing arts institutions on the planet, and it was the first conservatoire in the UK to be granted its own degree-awarding powers.

Undergraduate students can pursue degrees in dance, drama, production, film, music, education and community art. A range of postgraduate programmes also available, and the RCS supports research up to doctoral level.

Famous alumni of the RCS include household names and emerging talent such as Ncuti Gatwa, Alan Cumming, Iona Fyfe, David Tennant, Anna Russel Martin, Elaine C Smith, James McAvoy, Ruby Wax and many more.

Find out more about the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland here.

 

University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI)

While the other three institutions on this list stand out because of specialist focus, the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) is set apart by its unique origins and its role serving geographical and cultural needs.

Its history goes back to 1991, when Highland Regional Council set up a steering group to “examine the case” for “a federal, collegiate university based on existing further education colleges.” Formal status as a higher education institution was secured in the year 2000, and in 2011 it secured the right to be called a university.

UHI is a ‘dispersed’ university, with campuses all across the highlands and islands of Scotland as part of a network of more than 70 “local learning centres”. Not only do the overwhelming majority of students come from Scotland, nearly two-thirds reside in what the UHI describes as its ‘catchment area’, a reflection of the purpose for which UHI was established.

Although classed as a university, UHI was covered extensively during our special on the State of Scotland’s Colleges. This is because, a an integrated, regional, tertiary education institution, UHI offers higher education and further education programmes, as well as access courses - in fact, most of its students complete FE courses rather than degrees. This makes the organisation unique in Scotland and “one of only a few in Europe”.

Find out more about the University of the Highlands and Islands here.